Considering someone for organ and tissue donation at the end of life is complicated. The boundary between life and death is more complex than ever before and it falls to medical professionals to help clarify a situation at an often confusing and emotionally stressful time.
In this course you will learn about the science behind death determination and when it is possible for deceased organ donation take place. The lectures will cover medical standards at the end of life - from brain death testing, to requesting informed consent from a grieving family. By improving knowledge of good ethical practices, cultural and religious considerations and the logistics of the organ donation process this course will empower the interactions and discussions of medical professionals and the general public at an often confusing time.
This course will help you to ensure that the option of organ donation is compassionately explored in all appropriate situations at the end of life in the best way possible.
Watch the course trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak-kVtmZGRs
The course is certified for continuing professional development (CPD) points in South Africa. Send your completion certificate to organdonation@uct.ac.za together with your HPCSA number for 25 general and 5 ethics points.
For another interesting course on organ donation and transplantation, see Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation from Leiden University https://www.coursera.org/learn/clinical-kidney-transplantation

From the lesson

The Organ Donation Process

Who can donate? What can be donated? In this week you will learn that the number of potential organ donors is far larger than you ever thought. In the first lesson we look at the organ donation process in detail. We cover the assessment of a donor in terms of infection and malignancy risk and how individual organs are assessed for potential transplant. We look at the monitoring and interventions required to achieve various physiological goals in the organ donor. Managing a potential donor well and dealing with the complications associated with brain death is essential to maximizing the number of organs that are transplantable. It is not markedly different from any critically ill patient with multi-organ failure. We then look at the organ recovery process and how the organs are preserved and transported to the various recipients. In the second lesson the waiting list and allocation practices are discussed in detail so that you can see how donated organs are allocated fairly and how the benefit is maximized. We end the week with an overview of what each recipient operation entails and show you four interviews - all recipients of an organ transplant - given a new lease on life because of one brain dead donor and a family who consented to organ donation in a time of great personal tragedy.